The first jazz CD I ever bought was Duke Ellington’s “The Blanton-Webster Band” – a 3 disc set of one of Duke’s most polished and innovative bands. I listened to it countless times at work where my supervisor, jazz musician and artist Reverend Dwight Frizzell, would play it – often commenting on the tracks as they played. Noting a performer or a particularly interesting solo.
For a 19 year old whose taste in music was firmly in 70s and 80s punk and art rock, this music was a revelation. It was not at all predictable. The performances were absolutely perfect. Most importantly, it effortlessly and authentically expressed joy. To this day, the Ellington recordings from 1940-1942 on Victor remain favorites that I return to often.
Here we have one of the more interesting compositions to fit on a 78 rpm record: an ABCDDCBA song form.
0:00 A section (12 bars)
0:26 B section (16 bars)
1:01 C section (8 bars)
1:18 D section (12 bars)
1:45 D section (12 bars)
2:12 C section (8 bars)
2:29 B section (8 bars)
2:46 A section (12 bars)
The D section is the inner core of the tune – a 12 bar blues that features Ellington and Blanton in the first go round and a quiet lush Ben Webster in the second. The rest of the sections seem to arc us first toward and then away from that beautiful moment in the middle.
Recorded in New York City on July 24, 1940.
Released as Victor 26731
Credits
Duke Ellington – piano, arranger, director
Wardell Jones, Cootie Williams – trumpet
Rex Stewart – cornet
Joe Nanton, Lawrence Brown – trombone
Juan Tizol – valve trombone
Barney Bigard – clarinet
Johnny Hodges – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax
Harry Carney – alto sax, bass sax
Ben Webster – tenor sax
Fred Guy – guitar
Jimmy Blanton – string bass
Sonny Greer – drums
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